Last of the Summer Wine: New York Mets (73-86) @ Miami Marlins (67-92)

Well Mets faithful, it’s that time of year…the weather has changed, baseball season is almost over, and the Mets begin their last series of the year tonight. Even though we all curse, rant, complain, pull out our hair (and wish we could pull theirs out as well), deep down we all love our Mets. Even though they collapsed again, we all get sad when the season ends. Like to admit it or not, we miss them during the off-season. We miss the daily drama, Facebook debates, #CheckingInWithKevin, etc. So until next year…we begin the final series.

The Mets open up this 3-game series tonight in Miami with our usual dreaded spoiler pals, the Marlins. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 pm and the game can be seen on SNY, heard on WFAN660AM and followed on Twitter @MetsWFAN, @dailystache and @Meriwyn.

At an uncertain time for the Mets, where we once again don’t know who will be staying and who will be going (let the David Wright/R.A. Dickey drama start), we see another new starter take the mound tonight. Jeurys Familia, who has certainly had his ups and downs in the bullpen this year, will make his MLB debut as a starter tonight. Terry Collins says he wants to test Familia for about 2 or 3 innings, to see how he handles batters beyond 20-25 pitches. Could we be looking at a potential starter for next season?

The Mets have won 7 straight against the Marlins, with their season record against them being 11-4. This is the first time since 2008 that the Mets have won the season matchups with the Fish.

Seeing as this is my last pre-game write-up for this season, I want to give my own shout-outs since we’re at the end of the season.

Many thanks and much love to:

The Daily Stache Staff, the TRUE METS FANS crew on Facebook, the Immortal Chris Majkowski of WFAN, Howie and Josh of WFAN for being so much fun this season, the INCOMPARABLE Gary, Keith and Ron, R.A. Dickey for giving us a humble and true hero to root for, Johan Santana for giving us the first Mets no-no, and of course Terry Collins for giving it his all every game.

Don’t worry, we’ll be here all through the off-season with Mets updates!

Mets Lineup

Marlins Lineup

Pitching Matchup

NYM: Jeurys Familia (0-0, 8.64 ERA). Familia will make his MLB starting debut tonight. The Mets are still unsure if Familia’s future lies in the rotation or bullpen, so this should be a good chance to evaluate that.

MIA: Wade LeBlanc (2-5, 3.96 ERA). LeBlanc will start in place of Josh Johnson, who is being shut down by Miami as of tonight. LeBlanc, who has pitched mostly in relief, will be making his 9th start.

Stache Keys to the Game(s)

Go out on a high note

This doesn’t apply until later, but GET DICKEY 21st WIN!

The Mets dodge a bullet with Josh Johnson being scratched. Take advantage!